


you can hear it in the silence

by aesterie



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Domestic Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Romance, beomgyu will always be soobin's best friend, soobin is the light of beomgyu's life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:01:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28593663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aesterie/pseuds/aesterie
Summary: soobin paused, then said, "you're my best friend."beomgyu didn't say anything else.(or: beomgyu and soobin made a drunken promise three years ago that they'll move into an apartment together.it's years later and they're finally here.except this time, beomgyu is in love.)
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Choi Soobin
Comments: 8
Kudos: 126





	you can hear it in the silence

**Author's Note:**

> it's been a while since i posted here but hi, i'm back! hope you all enjoy this little fluff piece ♡
> 
> based on taylor swift's you are in love. (the title is also taken from the lyrics of the song).

they've always been different. 

soobin and beomgyu—they were different.

even when they were still the bright-eyed kids sitting by the park bench, taking on the world with an adventure written every single day from their imaginations, they were different. soobin with his warm hands and kind eyes, constantly reaching out. beomgyu with his small fists, afraid and hesitant for a moment's breath before he takes the leap with soobin. 

as they grew up, beomgyu began wearing his heart on his sleeve. his laugh became the familiar song written along the hallways of their high school, woven right into the notes of his guitar. soobin almost took a step back but beomgyu always pulled him back in. 

he never stopped reaching out for him. even when the years have strung themselves into blurry polaroids and ink-stained notebook pages, beomgyu never forgot the same boy who taught him to love the world for what it is. 

if soobin took a step back, he would do it too. soobin never had to ask him to stay—maybe he knew that beomgyu would have done it in a heartbeat. 

"why didn't you join that road trip with your friends?" 

soobin once asked him. they were laid out on beomgyu's bed—one that barely fit them together by now. it was the summer after their high school graduation but somehow, they were still entwined like how they were when they were children. 

"i don't think i can survive two months without you, hyung." the words felt careless and easy on beomgyu's lips. soobin couldn't help but glance at him in barely concealed curiosity. 

"really?" 

"i mean," beomgyu shrugged. "who's going to cook for me?" 

"asshole."

if beomgyu could do it, he would bottle up the sound of soobin's laughter and listen to it over and over again. it sounded warm and bright and god, beomgyu could never imagine a summer without hearing it. 

"is that really the reason?" 

the silence wrapped itself around the end of that question. even when beomgyu was staring at the stars clumsily stuck on the ceiling of his bedroom, he could feel soobin's eyes fixated on him.

waiting, always waiting.

"you're my best friend," beomgyu paused, then said, "i could never leave you." 

soobin didn't say anything else. but it was enough for beomgyu to feel his laughter against his skin when soobin pressed his face comfortably against his neck. 

they're perfect like this.

beomgyu would do anything for them to stay like this. 

/

"what do you think about moving in together?" 

"what?" beomgyu echoed, laughing afterwards. he barely even filled up the little shot glass with soju before he spoke again, "are you drunk already?" 

"i'm serious," soobin slurred, "we should move in together."

it was friday night and they were cramped up in soobin's tiny dorm room. the remnants of their last exams still laid heavily in their bones and beomgyu wanted nothing but to wash them away with the alcohol.

they sat by the bottom bunk, their knees almost knocking against each other but then, it was comforting. familiar, even. 

beomgyu didn't know why but it felt like something shifted. almost like a film still going out of focus and beomgyu could feel it—how the world had tilted out of its axis. though he tried not to think about it too much, his hand wouldn't stop shaking as he poured the alcohol, spilling it out of glass' proximity. 

"soobin hyung," beomgyu sighed instead, putting away the alcohol. "do you even know what you're saying? we don't have any money to rent one." 

"not right now, of course!" 

there was the sound of blankets rustling before soobin eventually fell right against him. he had flushed cheeks and he was laughing and god—was he always this pretty before? 

beomgyu noticed the glint of starlight in his dark strands, like a halo of some sort. even though it was dark, the tiny window next to the bunk beds was enough to light up the empty space around them. he swallowed thickly, realizing a little too late that he had his fist wrapped around his emotions. 

silencing them to the point that even beomgyu almost forgot about them.

"we can save up and live together! right after we graduate, we can find an apartment in seoul and we'll decorate it together. you can play the guitar on sunday mornings while i cook you some pancakes. then we'll go out to the balcony and watch the stars. we'll—" 

"always be together, no matter what happens?" 

soobin lit up at that. "exactly, you get me." 

"but why?" he swallowed and felt the sharp edges of his words. "why would you want to stay with me after all those years?" 

beomgyu didn't mean to ask that. but the curiosity tangled itself around his fingers and it almost felt like a sin not to acknowledge it. 

why would soobin want to live with him three years from now? by that time, he could easily fall in love with someone else and be with them instead. and beomgyu would be hopelessly wondering if a promise that they made in this tiny freshman dorm on a friday night would be kept. 

soobin stared at him for a heartbeat too long before he let the space between them fall away. he was so close now—it took the world in beomgyu's hands for him not to let his heart fall through his chest when he realized how breathtaking soobin looked. 

"because i don't want to lose you," soobin said to him very quietly. his head pressed comfortably on beomgyu's shoulder as their fingers entwined. "you're my best friend."

beomgyu didn't say anything else. 

he only let their pinkies touch, laughter tracing right after. "okay." 

"okay?" soobin questioned again, eyes hopeful. 

he took a deep breath and looked at their intertwined fingers. 

(beomgyu could never say no to him.) 

"okay." 

/

"you're home already?" 

"it's nine in the evening, soobin hyung," beomgyu grumbled, pushing past the front door. "i think it's a reasonable time for me to be home." 

soobin laughed as he crossed the little distance between them. it was such a familiar routine to have soobin walk up to him and kiss him before he murmurs, "how was your day?" 

"it was okay," beomgyu would reply every time, "you know that the most interesting part of my day is coming back home to you." 

he even memorized the way the corners of soobin's lips quirk into a curve of a smile. the way his eyes would light up like the stars in the night sky, or the way his cheeks would have the slightest hint of a blush. 

_pretty, my pretty light,_ beomgyu would think to himself but he would never say them out loud. 

they're older now but even then, it was as if they were still the same hopeful freshmen who got drunk one friday night, promising that they'll get an apartment together. beomgyu felt his world shift that night—like a soft breath in between prayers. like the silence that ties itself around the ends of their conversations. 

it was as if he was finally making his way back home. 

right here in their little apartment, with the dim lights and wide space and a tiny couch by the living room. the balcony that shows the skyline of seoul—the view that they fall in love with every night as soobin wraps his arms around beomgyu's waist, letting their bodies lean against the railing. 

tonight though, beomgyu decided to trace his way through his memories again. 

"soju?" 

soobin gave him a look. "you know that i like beer." 

beomgyu shrugged a little carelessly, pressing the cold soju in his hands. "i think it wouldn't hurt to reminisce about what happened in the past, right?" 

without waiting for a beat of hesitation between them, he walked into the kitchen, scouring for the shot glasses that were shoved into the drawer. he scrunched his nose when he realized that soobin had left them at the top left cupboard _again._

"i don't know _how_ you even convinced me to drink soju when we were freshmen. i got drunk so easily!" 

"is it my fault that you're a lightweight, hyung?" 

laughter is a familiar song in their apartment by now. though beomgyu likes to think that soobin had the sweetest laugh though—it was the kind of laugh that left an ache in his chest. 

(one that he had grown so incredibly fond of.) 

"we haven't even reached three months in this apartment and here we are, as domestic as we can be." 

"by drinking?" beomgyu raised a brow. 

soobin burst out laughing. beomgyu thinks that he'll never stop familiarizing himself with his favorite song. 

"idiot, i meant that us being like this," soobin sat on the floor, leaving enough space for beomgyu to settle next to him. "you know, spending the night together." 

beomgyu rolled his eyes. "look at you being a hopeless romantic." 

"hopeful romantic, you mean," soobin chided. "i was never hopeless when it came to you." 

"are you saying that you _knew_ that i liked you?" 

"you weren't _that_ discreet, you know." 

beomgyu purposely let their shoulders brush against each other as their knees knock together. this kind of closeness between them was familiar already. comforting, even. 

"it was difficult not to tell you how much i liked you, hyung," beomgyu murmured. "you have so much love for everyone else. you deserve to have that kind of love come back to you." 

beomgyu didn't even realize how close they were. soobin was leaning against him, hazy yet bright eyes focused on him. soobin's cheeks were flushed already and the bottle of soju was only halfway through. he wanted to laugh at how endearing it is that even years later, soobin was still the same boy who became too tipsy so early. 

"you always made me feel so loved, do you know?" soobin's words were softer, gentler now. still, they leave an ache in beomgyu's chest. 

"i always knew that i'm loved well. and it was all because of you." 

"not just me, silly." beomgyu barely filled the glass with soju again before he sighed. "everyone else loves you too, soobin hyung." 

"but you loved me the most." 

there was a heartbeat of silence that stretched between them before soobin spoke again. "do you know the exact moment when i found out that i fell in love with you?" 

that's when beomgyu stopped in his movements. his world shifting again, like how it once did when soobin asked him to move in with him in this very apartment. almost like a film still that was slowly going out of focus. 

"when was it?" 

he could feel how soobin moved closer to him, fingers grasping his sleeve. their knees knocked together and beomgyu was reminded of the space between them—it was barely there anymore. soobin was so close and he still looked as breathtaking as he did before. 

"when you told me the reason why you didn't join that summer road trip was because you didn't want to leave me behind," soobin whispered, "you said that i'm your best friend." 

"you still are," beomgyu said. "you always will be." 

soobin smiled. it was barely a curve of his lips but his eyes were brighter than the stars. "i know."

the older boy reached out, tipping the other bottle of soju to fill up the glass. he let the alcohol burn through his throat before he rested his head on beomgyu's shoulder, voice quieter than ever. 

"gyu-yah, do you know how when you're in love with someone and everything just seems… brighter? everything is much more vivid and you can't help but fall in love with everything else too." 

the silence stretched out before the words came spilling past his rib cage. 

"i felt that with you, you know," soobin was looking at him now, hazy eyes focused on him. only him and nothing else. "everything was so bright when we're together that whenever we fought, it was as if the entire world became…" 

"darker?" 

"no," soobin faltered. "it was as if the world went back to normal. it was as if i was seeing it like how all the other people saw it and i hated it. i realized that i don't want to lose someone so bright like you."

_i don't want to lose my light._

soobin paused, then said, "you're my best friend." 

beomgyu didn't say anything else. 

he doesn't have to do that after all. 

instead, he reached out and let their fingers intertwine. his thumb brushed along the curve of his knuckles, memorizing every little detail of his best friend. the love of his life. 

his light—his pretty, pretty light. 

"you're never going to lose me, hyung." he leaned in and pressed a kiss on his forehead. it was soft and carried all the words that beomgyu had ever told him since they were children. all the words that he will keep for the rest of their lives. 

"you promise?" 

soobin questioned again, eyes hopeful. soobin was right—he _is_ hopeful. he always had been, when it comes to beomgyu. 

he took a deep breath and looked at their intertwined fingers. soobin is so familiar and comforting and beomgyu would never let go of him—even if it would burn him. 

(beomgyu could never say no to him. 

he'll do anything to make soobin happy.) 

"i promise."


End file.
